***** This thread is now closed, please CLICK HERE to go to Volume 4 *****
Following on from Stargazer's original thread, and Vol 2:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=23902
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=23901
Another thread for commenting on rare, unusual, old or just plain daft cars etc.
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Walked past a small 2 seater soft-top roadster, but initially could not recognise it as I passed from rear to front. Then it dawned that it was wearing a blue and white propeller. The BMW grill was very low down and body coloured and very understated.
Finally tracked it down thanks to the c-by-c breakdown, BMW Z1.
Looked great and so different to the current styling efforts.
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The BMW grill was very low down and body coloured and very understated. Looked great and so different to the current styling efforts.
>>
www.bmwz1.co.uk/
Understated colour like this one?.
Lots of info on it.
The doors are the most unusual feature.
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Yep, bright red, but the grill blends in and is so low that it is almost un-noticeable.
I didnt notice about the doors as I was just walking past and spent most time trying to work out what it was. It had no name or model on the boot, just the propeller badge.
I will check on my way home tonight but unless I see somebody getting in I wont get a look at the doors!
It caught my eye as I have never seen one before.
StarGazer
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Ariel Atom near Bakewell. Single seater made from a bundle of visible tubing and a rear engine. The driver appeared to be very windswept and was cowering in the cockpit.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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I wonder if it's the same one I saw in Brighton last Sunday? Far better looking car than the Z3 or Z4.
Also spotted in Brighton (Hove actually), I think the first I've seen for many years, a 1957 Edsel 2-door hardtop in turquoise and pale cream. To me, it didn't look bad enough to be the sales disaster it turned out to be. No worse than many of the US cars of that era.
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Within the last two weeks, seen on the A36 south of Bath - a vintage BMW, an open 2 seater that looked older and smaller than the famous 328 type from the late 30's. It was red and silver or red and grey. Looking at pics on the net it resembles later versions of the 'Dixie'. The original BMW Dixie was none other than the little Austin 7 built under licence!
cheers, Sofa Spud
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Further searching on the net seems to narrow the identity of my sighting down to a BMW 315, although I found a pic of a special bodied Dixie (or Dixi) with a similar shape.
Cheers, SS
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Trident Iceni in Norfolk just over a week ago. Might be the same one I saw a few times in Suffolk a couple of years ago, as I don't think there are many of them around.
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Ford GT40 - a real one from the 1960s. At a petrol station on the A41 in London. The noise was superb and the I could have fried an egg within ten paces of the engine.
I long for lots and lots of Smiths Industries dials and row upon row of toggle switches.!! Looked at a three year old Audi A6 the other day. Not interior charm whatsoever; bland on top of bland, ugh!
--
Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Red Enzo on the M40 this evening
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Some old ones for both two wheeler and four wheeler fans.
Last Sunday afternoon saw a whole host of vintage motor cycles, some familiar names (BSA, Norton, Triumph) but also some new (to me) Matchless, Douglas
Some great bikes being shown to all visitors.
Also a parade of old Morrises, 8's, 10's, Minors (split screen)
StarGazer
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I saw a Lynx Eventer in Congleton the other week - kind of a 3-door estate Jaguar XJS.
It looked OK from the front...
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New ? Matchless ? Hardly - in later years the same bikes as the AJS although badged differently.
My G12 was one of the most fun bikes I every owned.
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Mark,
New to me....I'd never heard of Matchless or Douglas as marques before. I'm not a bike fan by any means but some of these resotred machines were wonderful.
Ian
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Two ugly beasts within five minutes of each other - a black Hummer and a new Bentley coupé (UK personal plate of course!) - where - in that centre of conspicuous consumption, Puerto Banus!
--
Roger. (Costa del Sol, España)
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New to me....I'd never heard of Matchless or Douglas as marques before.
I remember both, in the 1950s, when I were nobbut a youth.
However, the only features I remember are:-
(a) The end of the Matchless exhaust silencer curled back inwards ~ if you know what I mean.
(b) The Douglas (Dragonfly?) had a horizontal twin engine.
--
L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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>> New to me....I'd never heard of Matchless or Douglas as marques >> before. I remember both, in the 1950s, when I were nobbut a youth. However, the only features I remember are:- (a) The end of the Matchless exhaust silencer curled back inwards ~ if you know what I mean. (b) The Douglas (Dragonfly?) had a horizontal twin engine. -- L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
Correction ~ the Douglas had a two cylinder horizontally opposed engine.
--
L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Today I followed a neat but dumpy little red convertible on the way to Bath. It was left-hand-drive with a British reg. no.
The badges on the back said Geo and Metro.
This was a new one on me, despite my widely acclaimed mental store of motoring trivia (lol!).
A search on the net solved the mystery. Geo was an American GM brand selling Suzuki-based cars. Next time I see one I'll know what it is.
Cheers, Sofa Spud
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If my memory serves me correctly the metro was a convertible based on the suzuki swift
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A Ford Focus XL5 - the American spec of the Focus. Why it was in South Yorkshire I have no idea.
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While we're on the subject of unusual sightings has anyone ever seen a City Rover on the road?
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Yes.
Unsurprisingly being driven by an elderly gent with a car full of what I presume were grandchildren or he's very active for his age!
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Yes - one , and strangely enough 5 mins later a Streetwise - the only examples I have seen
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A Ford Focus XL5 -
Don't you mean fireball?
Saw a 2005 white Focus on trade plates today, It was round corner from Ford engineering centre at Dunton so I guess it had something to do with them.
Saw a City Rover too today, the first one for ages.
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Saab Sonnet (III, I think) on the M42 near Solihull at around 5:30pm yesterday. I've never seen one "in the flesh" before. It looked to be in excellent condition, too.
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A Fiat 850 coupe, in white , in beautiful condition. can still see it.
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A Mercedes Unimog.
One of the most intimidating lumps of metal I've ever been stopped next to at a set of traffic lights:
the air brakes snort down your ear, and the engine seems to be at head height.
Something like this:
tinyurl.com/5xl96
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On New Years Day in Weston super Mare I saw 3 Jensen Interceptors parked on the sea front, not together though.
Oh and on a more personal note, I saw a Glenfrome Range Rover 6 wheel thing sometime in December. My grandad used to be the one who cut these things in two and do whatever he did to them, so that was quite special for me.
(and 4 CityRovers spotted in Devon/Cornwall this week!)
Tony
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On New Years Day in Weston super Mare I saw 3 Jensen Interceptors parked on the sea front, not together though. Oh and on a more personal note, I saw a Glenfrome Range Rover 6 wheel thing sometime in December. My grandad used to be the one who cut these things in two and do whatever he did to them, so that was quite special for me. (and 4 CityRovers spotted in Devon/Cornwall this week!) Tony
Snap- also saw those ones parked up on the sea front. Also saw 3 citirovers driving round the town within 5 minutes of each other (different colours so not same one repeated.
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>>A Mercedes Unimog.
>>One of the most intimidating lumps of metal I've ever been stopped next to at a set of traffic lights:
the air brakes snort down your ear, and the engine seems to be at head height.
There are a few Unimogs around our way - Southern Electric have one at the local substation and a couple of local tree surgeons use them - maybe the PTO is useful for driving the shredder.
Cheers, SS
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not very exciting to most but i saw an immaculate Mark I Escort, which gave me the biggest widest smile motoring related for a long time
brilliant to see, and brings back such happy memories
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Mark I Escort
One not far from me in showroom condition..rarely see it except on a Sunday.
Rebuilt Metro on the IOW.owned by a friend who is extremely fussy about appearance.Car looks like new.
also owns an old C5 currently in due process of cleaning up.Ps sinclair C5 not cit..
--
Steve
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>>A Mercedes Unimog. There are a few Unimogs around our way - Southern Electric have one at the local substation and a couple of local tree surgeons use them - maybe the PTO is useful for driving the shredder. Cheers, SS
Here's another picture:
tinyurl.com/5xtcr
The one I saw wasn't loaded up quite like that!
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>>Here's another picture:
>>tinyurl.com/5xtcr
These 2 bests of burden are not Unimogs though, they are 'normal control' (i.e. bonneted) Mercedes lorries that were popular in some countries.
Cheers, SS
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>>Here's another picture: >>tinyurl.com/5xtcr These 2 bests of burden are not Unimogs though, they are 'normal control' (i.e. bonneted) Mercedes lorries that were popular in some countries. Cheers, SS
Apologies for not knowing the difference.
Impressive pix, none the less.
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Broken down HGV Tractor unit being towed on its front wheels by a huge whaletail recovery vehicle. I have seen cars being towed this way, but never something that large.
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A Tiger kit Car this afternoon in several bits. Looks a bit chunky compared to a Caterham or Westfield.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Saw a Skoda Fabia saloon the other day. Don't recall ever seeing one before but apparently they've been on sale here since 2001...
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A couple of months ago, on the A303, a 2CV that had been cut-and-shut down the centre, to make a single seater a la Caterham 7 but with a roof! I say single seater but it may well have had a back seat - hard to tell at 120mph combined.
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A 60's Chevrolet Corvette Stingray seen today going the opposite direction to me - I wish I still had my 'Observers Book of Automobiles' from the 60's cos the Stingray was in there and I never did manage to see one or tick it off my list of cars seen. I never saw a Panhard or a Lincoln Continental either.
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I remember seing a Panhard regularly in the 1960s in Leith.
Pale violet with full aluminium wheeel covers. 600cc IIRC and I believe the marque had some class success at Le Mans.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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That sighting really stirred up my 60's car memories.
Strangely enough Scunner , Leith was not that far from my home in North Northumberland in the 60's.
Your Panhard obviously never ventured too far down the A1.
I also remember that I didn't ever see a Goggomobil either.When did anybody last see one of those?
At that time my Maths Teacher had a two seater silver Messerschmit three wheeler . We all used to laugh at him but I'd love to own one now. Anybody seen one recently?
The headmaster used to run a Renault Dauphine and the English Teacher ran a 1930's Austin Ruby until the MOT came in... but I reckon there are probably more Austin Rubys on the road than Renault Dauphines today.
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Helicopter wrote:At that time my Maths Teacher had a two seater silver Messerschmit three wheeler . We all used to laugh at him but I'd love to own one now. Anybody seen one recently?
Not sure if it's a Messerschmit but I regularly see an immaculate red bubble car on a '63 plate on Woburn Place towards Russell Sq.
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The one I am talking about has two seats, one behind the other and looks like the cockpit of a WW2 fighter plane. Two wheels at the front and one at the back and usually came in silver.The roof or 'bubble' used to hinge sideways so you could climb in and IIRC it was held open by a leather strap. It did not have a steering wheel, it was more like a downward facing half circle.
I believe that they are seriously collectable these days.
The more common Isetta ( made by BMW ) and Heinkel bubble cars had the door on the front and IIRC no reverse so if you parked too close to a wall you could get trapped. My bet is the one you see in the west end is a Heinkel ( check for a winged H badge) as they were commonly red.
Also I remember the Bond Bug three wheeler which was always an orange colour and looked like a wedge of cheddar .....
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Saw a beautiful mint condition 1968 dodge charger in dark metallic green on the A38 near derby. Not particularly impressive maybe, but still one of my favourites.
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More here about 3 wheelers than you could possibly want to know:
www.3wheelers.com
details, and pictures - hundreds of them.
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Based on a 2CV, you say. So why were *you* doing 100mph on the A303?
Sorry, couldn't resist....
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Based on a 2CV, you say. So why were *you* doing 100mph on the A303? Sorry, couldn't resist....
2CVs can do a lot more than 20mph, especially when they are cut in half............
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I saw a VW Phaeton this morning. Not seen one on the road before, and it took me a minute to work out what it was. It looked a fine piece of machinery, but why would anyone buy a car of that size with a VW badge on it? I wonder how many they have sold.
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I saw the 2005 MY Jaguar XK and the 2005 MY Land Rover Sport last August before pictures were released to the public. However, I do work at Browns Lane and actually work on them both ;)
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Helicopter,
Funny you should say that.
There was a Goggomobil parked in Portobello where I waited for the bus.1965 or so. Salmon pink. I believe that they were the inspiration for the Hillman Imp.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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How about a Diesel Morris Minor 4 door?
Yes, an immaculate (non) original version in dark green can be seen around the Cornish side of the Tamar Valley.
I spoke to the owner who said it had a ford diesel engine in it(escort I think). I am not sure about the gearbox though. I suspect it would be the original as it would be RWD.
H
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Saw my first Aston Martin DB9 today. Looked so beautiful but ruined by the awful colour, kiss of death royal blue. Why on earth did the owner pick that!! Why?? Why??
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Only one colour to have an Aston in - that dark, gun metal type grey you see the Vanquish in most of the time.
Gorgeous.
--
Adam
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It may have even been that..
no! no! awful!
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I saw a Police Traffic car on the M8 today.
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an Aston in - that dark, gun metal type grey
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm........ ¦-)
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BB,
next time you see Bibiana Boerio in the canteen could you tell her that if the R-D6 goes into production I'll have two please?
Kevin...
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Saw my first Cadillac Escalade today, black with enormous glitzy chrome plated wheels. Saw it in Chigwell, (where else!)
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A small (original model) Almera shaped three door estate, wrap round Mondeo type rear lights and a blue oval on the grille. Lower and longer than a Fiesta. WHat was it ?
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Saw a Little Austin 7 van the other day. Still seems to be in 'normal' use as I see it from time to time. Must be about 75 years old.
Cheers, Sofa Spud
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Pugugly,
From your description - a Proton Hatchback of some kind- but the badge is not oval.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Just seen a new Toledo - not impressed.
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Today, Addlestone Surrey
A Mazda Montague Bongo Friendee
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This morning on the A46
A utilities van, towing a portable generator/compresor thingy..........with a light board in full working order!!
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Followed today for a few miles by a tatty Austin Maxi. Quite good cars in their time if only they'd been more reliable, better built and better styled!!!
cheers, Sofa Spud
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A 2005 Ford Mustang in Braintree Essex a la boatwright.co.uk/used.htm WOW!!
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Last Monday 28th Feb.Anyone else as lucky as me,11-00am on M5 Northbound a beautiful vintage Bentley,sole occupent in leather flying helmet and maintaining a steady 75-80mph,followed him from Exeter until I turned off at Wellington,made my day.
ndbw
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At the garage I visited recently, they had a bright yellow Mk1 Polo. I forget the year, but it was a mid 70s edition with metal bumpers.
Where are all these things now. They were excellent cars, and the motoring press raved about them, but they're nearly extinct in this country. One magazine at the time went on to say it was better than the golf!!
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Postscript to my Austin 7 van post above:
Today I saw TWO Austin 7's in convoy - early box saloons, 1930-ish. These looked like restored examples.
Cheers, Sofa Spud
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A few oddities I've seen around the top end of Tottenham Court Road recently include a De Lorean (in its native stainless steel) this morning, a VW-Porsche 914 and a bright red Chevrolet SSR pickup truck, which looked smart, despite ticking exactly no boxes on my 'things I'm looking for in a car' list.
Andrew
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Saw my first Vauxhall Monaro in the metal on the M23 on Friday.
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Gilbern Invader (I think) waiting to join the main road into Northampton earlier today. Low slung hard top sports jobby in a rather careworn cream/red, Welsh Dragon prominent on radiator.
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I saw a City Rover AND a Phaeton on the A27 within about 10 minutes of each other last night
Both doing about 65....
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A Reliant Scimitar easily out accelerating me as it overtook truck in front.
Was there ever another car with such an image difference between two models (Robin/Kitten and Scimitar)
Wasnt it in a Scimitar that HRH Princess Anne kept getting caught speeding?
StarGazer
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A weekend in London:
Bentley Coupes - loads of 'em
DB9s - half a dozen
Lambos - a couple (apart from those in the Knightsbridge dealership!)
Maybach - SWB version
Bentley with reg 80SS (yes that's Boss! - anyone famous?)
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A12 Mid Essex heading north today, a 1958,1959(?) Ford Edsel in blue and white.
Can't be many of these in the UK?
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05 plate bentley coupe in the yard this morning dont know who owns it though, i expect it's a visitor means i wont get a go in it. shame it was very nice...cheers...keo.
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I saw a brand new black Bentley Coupe today joining the M62, off the M60 heading towards Liverpool. Very smart, but what a big car!
Think the personalised plate ended with something like HNR or something...
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Bentley coupes seem to be rather common lately.. in this thread and out on the road.
More reasons for not buying one..
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Followed a silver new Discovery. It's off my wish list now. Too late 70's Fiat looking.
Cheers, SS
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i saw a city rover earlier today being used by a driving instructor
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Metallic blue Lamborghini Gallardo.
Was loud enough to make me look up when weeding the garden.
Amazing sound even going by at 30 mph[ish].
Also an immaculate black DB9. No idea how it was so clean- roads are still plastered with salt and agricultural ordure in the High Peak.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Allegro Vanden Plas in Burton on Trent this lunchtime.
Looked fairly tidy but was in a nasty sort of green tinted biege colour
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Driving on the A36 towards Bath today I saw an 8-wheeler coach - i.e. 2 steering axles at front and 2 axles at rear, as on many lorries. The coach was a luxury touring type, either double-deck or high floor, pink in colour and with a red on white number plate (Belgium).
Cheers, Sofa Spud
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Coming up the M40 this morning;
A Combo van, or similar, pulling a shopping trolley with the trolley running on its own back wheeles but with the front, swivel wheels off the ground on some sort of dolly.
Shopping trolley was just that and looked for all the world like your average Tesco's trolley except that it was slightly bigger than the van. i.e. very damned big
Now what was all that about ?
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Some kind of advertising gimmick?
There was a large V8 motorised trolley a few years back.
A very unusual sight this morning. A BMW 318 going at 35mph along the A6.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Sunday. Ford Zodiac Estate. Very clean example.
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Once i had a MK1 Ford Fiesta V-reg overtake me on the M40, he was possibly doing about 90!! Dont see many of them on our motorways these days!!!! But you do see them on ebay.
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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a proper little fiat 500 is currently buzzing round Burton on Trent at the mo - seem to see it most days
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This morning - A bright yellow (Giallo fly?) Murcielago and a MkI Lotus Cortina.
Tonight - A pristine Aston DB6, two Merc CLS AMGs and a BMW 3 series with foglights switched off.
All on the A33.
Kevin...
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Yesterday near Bakewell, waiting for breakdown truck to attend my Xantia:-
Every possible MG except possibly the Oxford/Cambridge clone Magnette. Presumably a club outing. Also a Hillman Husky (who says van derived cars are new!!)and a sickly green Hillman Imp, not the notchback version, but with double headlights - Sunbeam Stilleto or Singer Chamois?.
And seen from the breakdown truck on the M1 a motorised in line skate heading north at line speed. Gone past too quickly to hazard a guess at the mechanical underpinnings.
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..and a sickly green Hillman Imp, not the notchback version,but with double headlights - Sunbeam Stilleto or Singer ..Chamois?.
Hillman Imp Californian ?
they don't half look ugly in these pictures...
www.imps4ever.info/family/cally.html
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In the que this morning the chap in the car behind was smoking a pipe.
Havn't seen that for years.
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On M3 on Sunday, A Vauxhall Velox or Cresta PA - the one with the real Yanktank styling - fins, vertical oval tail lights and wraparound windscreen. This one was all red and was in a well-used condition. What surprised me was how small it looked - I remembered these Vauxhalls as big barges, but in my mirror it looked lower and no wider than the Golf Mk 4 next to it - optical illusion maybe?
Cheers, SS
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This was a few weeks ago now - the sight of this thread triggered my memory....
Place - M25 clockwise, near M4 Jct. Time - Friday mid-afternoon.
A dark maroon/black Maybach saloon in convoy with a White W210 E class. The sheer size of the Maybach made the E class look like a toy, not to mention all the other cars that were crawling through the roadworks.
Both cars on German plates.
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Another thread for commenting on rare, unusual, old or just plain daft cars etc.
Hmmmm??
www.whowantsabalti.co.uk/piccies/mild/batmobile.jpg
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My dad and I were on the A34 2 months ago and we saw this stunning silver sports car coming from behind us off a slip road. It raced up behind us and went at breakneck speed past- it had a german numberplate on it. I got a glimpse of the back of it - and it said "carrera gt" on it.
Stunning car!
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Is it a Polish plate? Maybe it's the norm there...
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Saw an unusual, but quick, way to covert the old-style Vauxhall Tigra into an open-top car like the new model.
1. Put one piece of cane furniture in the back that is obviously too large for the space available.
2. Shut the hatchback.
3. Sweep up the glass.
Not a full convertible I grant you, more like a suzuki jeep type, but a good effort nonetheless.
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Lancia Stratos on the A500 in stoke this afternoon
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New Rolls Royce Phantom in dark blue. Looked like a walking boot from head on.
Seen plenty of the new Bentley coupe but first new Rolls for me.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Saw 2 Mercedes CLS "4 door Coupe" in the space of a week - a silver one and a dark plum colour one.
In the flesh, they don't look half as good as in the mag pictures, which weren't very good to start with anyway.
Reminded me of a turtle ..... instead of a sense of sleek sophistication, as I imagine MB designers intended, the vibes I was getting were lethargy and blandness.
I'm sure (some) other BRs will disagree.....as is the norm with subjective matters.
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1973 Citreon SM on the M3 this morning...merrily lane swapping at 70 mph every 2 seconds in the very busy traffic :-/ Maybe 'classic' but obviously not 'cherished' !
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Three in one day today:
A284 just outside Littlehampton; silver Lambo Diablo, super noise
A280 a Delorean
A24 northbound; a new deep blue Rolls Royce Phantom, the first I've seen on the road.
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Mouldering, but not rotting, in Delamere Forest, the front 2/3rds was Fiat X1/9 but the back end was different. Obviously it's a Fiat but does anyone know what model ?
John
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